Earpieces, earbuds, headsets, headphones or other handsfree solutions are commonly utilized to keep the sound private and/or to facilitate multitasking when listening to music, talking in the phone, getting body function updates from your wristlet etc. Due to the rapid development of new electronic devices, e.g. mp3 players, tablets, smart phones, wearables, etc., where the sound experience plays an important role, the technique for transmittal of sound to the earpieces has undergone major improvements.
Conventional headphones or earpieces are generally wired to audio devices. However, such systems are not really convenient for the user. For example, the wires disturb the user because she/he cannot move as freely as usual and the wires also have a tendency to end up in a tangle. Moreover, there is a risk of breaking the wires or any of its contacts, which makes the complete headset unusable.
For some time, wires can be avoided by utilizing different kinds of short range wireless solutions, also referred to as Personal Area Network (PAN) solutions. Examples are; Blue-Tooth® (BT), infrared Data Association (IrDA), ZigBee®, Ultra WideBand (UWB), etc.
Known devices and methods of controlling data transfer between portable electronic devices, by wire or wirelessly, are relatively straight-forward for a user of mobile devices and wearables, such as mobile telephones, headphones, headsets, microphones, speakers and/or wristlets. There is an increasing demand in the audio and mobile phone market for even more easy, quick and user-friendly ways of using a mobile phone or other portable electronic device and wearable communication devices, e.g. headsets.
With increased functionality of earpieces often comes increased development cost, both for the hardware and software. Furthermore, increased hardware also leads to bulkier earpieces.
Increased hardware and/or more advanced software may also lead to decreased battery time for wireless earpieces.
In summary, there is a need to reduce development cost for earpieces, reduce bulkiness, decrease battery consumption and to increase their usefulness to users.